Bella's POV

I was back to avoiding Jared. For the past week, he'd tried to talk to me every chance he could get. I didn't talk to him though. I just completely ignored him as though I didn't hear him. I just couldn't talk to him, not when I knew that his interest in me now was probably because of some weird mating thing that he had no say in.

I shuddered when I thought about it. I had been so close to letting Jared back into my life. I wasn't going to jump back into a relationship, but I was willing to try to rebuild our friendship. Then I found out about imprinting and what it meant. Now I just wanted to be as far away from Jared as possible. I couldn't be around someone who was forced to be with me.

I was pulled from my thoughts by the sound of a knock at the door. I had been doing the dishes when I heard it. I quickly turned the water off and went to answer the door.

"Please don't be Jared," I said to myself before opening the door. I was shocked by who it was. It wasn't Jared. It was Sam. "S…Sam?"

"Hello, Bella. May I come in?" Sam asked.

"Um, okay," I said before standing aside to let him. He walked inside and I closed the door behind him. "Did Jared ask you to come here?"

Sam laughed. "No, actually my fiancé Emily demanded that I do so."

"Why?" I asked confused. I'd never even met Sam's fiancé. Why would she want Sam to come and see me?

"Well, Jared hasn't been doing so well since your last conversation. Emily has seen it and she's kind of like the Pack mother. She's worried for him and you as well. She knows what it's like to be imprinted on and not understand it too," Sam said.

"I understand it," I said before walking towards the kitchen.

I felt Sam follow me. "I don't think you do understand, Bella. I don't think you get how much you mean to Jared."

"Yes, I do. I know he loves me. I also know he doesn't have a choice," I said as we reached the kitchen. I sat down at the table.

Sam sat down across from me. "You make it sound like we're trapped. I don't see it that way. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't easy, especially for me. I was with someone else at the time I imprinted on Emily. In fact, it was her cousin. It all changed when I saw Emily.

"You're proving my point," I said. What Sam just told me was more evidence that this whole thing had been forced on Jared. He didn't choose me. He had me forced upon him.

"No. I did have to let go of who I was with and it hurt her, and it hurt me to hurt her, but I love Emily and I'm damn glad I imprinted on her. She means everything to me. But it's not the same for Jared," Sam said.

"You're saying this thing somehow has a different effect on him than it does you?" I asked skeptically. I had a hard time believing that it was somehow different for Jared than it was for Sam. Jared had explained it clearly. Imprinting made wolves devoted to the people they imprinted on. They had no choice in it.

"That's not what I meant. The process is the same. The feelings are the same. But when Jared told me he imprinted, he told me that the imprint didn't really matter. He told me that the fact that you were his future was something he always knew," Sam told me.

I felt hope rise inside me. I wanted to believe Sam when he said that Jared loved me for me, but the part of me that had been left too many times didn't wanna get my hopes too far up. "How do you know he didn't just say that because of the imprint?"

"Because that's not how it works. You don't forget your life before you imprint. I remember loving Leah Clearwater very well. Just like Jared remembers loving you. You know, I knew Jared from before phasing," Sam said.

"Yeah, he said you were friends."

"Yeah, and I always knew something ate at him. He never told me about you, but I did feel like he left someone behind when he moved here. He always talked about how much he hated his mother for moving him here and I always thought that it was about more than just his father. He'd planned to move back to Phoenix as soon as he reached his eighteenth birthday," Sam explained.

I remembered Jared saying that too. He'd told me that he had planned to come back for me when h legally could. The only thing that had stopped him was the fact that he turned into a werewolf. He'd wanted me. He made that clear. Why did I forget that? Why would I think his only interest was because of the imprint? What was wrong with me?

Apparently I'd spoken that last question out loud because Sam responded. "There's nothing wrong with you, Bella. Your distrust is completely understandable. Did you know that I was the one to find you that night in the woods?"

"Yeah."

"I saw what he did to you. I knew the pain it would cause you even after you realized you were better off," Sam said.

I couldn't help but flinch. Despite the fact that I realized I didn't love him, what Edward did to me still hurt. He'd abandoned me like a piece of furniture he didn't want anymore. It made me feel like I was worthless.

"That kind of thing does something to you. I think that when that no good leech left you like that, he took a huge chunk of your self-esteem with him. You don't believe anyone can love you now, do you?" Sam asked sadly.

I shifted in my chair uncomfortably. I couldn't believe that a virtual stranger could see through me like this. How could he know how I was feeling so easily?

"It's not true though. People can and do love you. Your father does. Jared definitely does and so does Jacob. That leech is nothing but a worthless bloodsucker who never should've gotten involved with you in the first place, let alone left you the way he did. You're better off without him," Sam said.

"It's not just him," I said. Edward was not the only reason for me feeling unlovable. I had low self-esteem before he left. He just made it worse.

"I know. Believe me, Jared hates himself for it. He loves you though. He really does," Sam said before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a piece of paper. "This is my address. Come over anytime you want. Jared's there more times than not. Also, Emily can't wait to meet you."

I took the piece of paper. "Why'd you come here, Sam? I know you said your girlfriend asked you to, but there has to be another reason for you saying all this to me. This isn't really your problem."

Sam stood up from his chair. "Actually it is. You're one of us now."

"I'm not a wolf," I said.

"No, but you're an imprint. From the moment Jared looked at you that day at the Blacks, you became a part of my Pack. I'm not about to sit back while two members of my Pack suffer. I'll see myself out. I hope to see you soon,' he said before walked away.